Rare Photos Offer a Glimpse of Britain’s Most Tattooed Man Before His Transformation

A man so devoted to body art that he legally changed his name and even tattooed his eyeballs has once again stunned Britain — offering a rare and raw glimpse into the mind behind the ink.

The 45-year-old, who now goes by the jaw-dropping moniker King of Ink Land King Body Art The Extreme Ink-ite, appeared on "This Morning" last Thursday, November 20, to reflect on the grueling, emotional, and often dangerous journey that turned his entire body into a human canvas.

Mathew Whelan — as he was once known — has spent years transforming himself, revealing that a staggering 36 tattoo artists worked on him simultaneously, in a display of what he calls "extreme body endurance."

"I think the journey kind of took over," he confessed. "I never set out on this process. Also I've got a world record. Never set out on a world record."

His first tattoo came at just 16 years old, two years shy of the legal age — a tribute to his beloved English bulldog, his first ever dog and a breed he deeply admires. When asked about the legality, he admitted, "It was a bit different back then, but you do get permission. Parents sometimes give permission. And it's a bit of a murky road."

But it didn't stop there. What began as a teenage act of expression turned into a £40,000 obsession that has consumed more than 1600 hours of his life — and nearly every inch of his skin.

Perhaps most shocking of all: he tattooed his eyeballs.

"My eyes, people are fascinated with the eyes, they're drawn in because of the ink in my eyeballs," he said. Though Whelan insisted, "It wasn't painful," he admitted the truth many suspect, "It's a very dangerous process, a girl I know in Canada that had eyesight issues but I had an eye test beforehand."

He took precautions, undergoing an eye test before the procedure and another a month later — and now gets checked annually. His commitment to maintaining his health while pushing body limits is as intense as his appearance.

And yet behind the ink lies a son, a co-worker, a man navigating a world that hasn't always welcomed his aesthetic.

"My mom, when I got the first one, thought instantly — because I've always been a collector, whether it was coin stamps from a kid — that this is probably going to be the start of a collection," he explained. "My dad was more concerned when I went visible."

Even after landing jobs, visible tattoos triggered workplace bias. "I had some issues with job stuff as well, not obtaining jobs, but when I was in the office, they moved me [...] because of my visible tattoos," he said. "Big management come around. So yeah."

Then came the darkest moment of all: a brutal attack in 2009 that left him fighting for his life in hospital — targeted, he believes, because of how he looked.

He opened up about the harrowing ordeal in a 2018 BBC Three interview, prompting waves of public support.

"He's one of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting I didn't know he had been attacked and it's awful!" one viewer wrote. "He honestly is a lovely human being and his tatoos suit his personality [sic]."

"I have nothing against tattoos at all, infact i want some. But i think full face tats are to[o] much. Each to their own though, he seems like a genuine guy :)" said another. But not everyone was kind — one chilling comment simply read: "Britain's Most lonely man [sic]."

Still, through it all, Whelan has held onto his identity — or perhaps become it. "Just older. And more colorful," he said, smiling softly beneath a body of ink. Take a look at a few rare photos from before his transformation.

Britain's Most Tattooed Man Before His Transformation

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